Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Given Outperform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 32.81% from the stock’s previous close.

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their target price on Nasdaq from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.63.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $71.53 on Thursday. Nasdaq has a 1 year low of $58.10 and a 1 year high of $84.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.14 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,116 shares of company stock worth $1,434,818. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 106.6% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.